I LOVE coffee. I originally tried adding coconut oil to my coffee when I was eliminating dairy from my diet. I love the taste so much now that it’s hard to have coffee any other way!

There are many benefits of coconut oil but here are a few of my favourite reasons for adding it to my coffee in the morning;

- it increases satiety

- it decreases the coffee caffeine spike

- it is energizing

- it boosts brain power

Once your coffee is made, throw it in a blender (make sure your blender is able to release heat), with a good heaping teaspoon of coconut oil. Sometimes, I throw in a small heap of ghee too (but it is not needed). Blend on medium intensity for 15-30 seconds and you should have a rich, creamy, delicious coffee. Finally, I usually top it with cinnamon because it helps regulate blood glucose.

Each week I get a new bundle of fresh vegetables from Makaria Farm. Lately, my veggie package has been loaded with carrots. This easy and delicious recipe ensures that none of the carrots go bad before I eat them!

I cut the carrots up into “french fry” looking portions and throw them into my iron skillet. I love my iron skillet, not only do I use it on the stove, but I bake with it too! This helps keep it seasoned and using the skillet frequently helps boost my daily iron consumption. I throw in some coconut oil, Himalayan salt and sprinkle on some cinnamon. It’s the perfect combination of sweet and salty.

I usually bake for about 5-10 minutes on 350 ℉ and then broil for about another 5 minutes. You can adjust this depending on how crispy you want your carrot fries to be!

Living in a house without air conditioning has made this summer a little bit more difficult to tolerate than I expected. Of course, I have no reason to complain. The ocean is part of my backyard. Surviving the heat on Vancouver Island is much easier and more enjoyable than almost every summer I’ve had in Toronto.

Hot meals in the summer don’t appeal to me too much. Especially when it requires me to spend a lot of time in the kitchen with the oven on. My place heats up quick! Thankfully, I’ve recently started to get weekly veggie baskets from a local farm. Most of the veggies can used in a salad which is one of my favourite summer meals. The best part about this salad is I had all of the ingredients at home! There’s nothing worse than being one key ingredient short of a delicious meal.

The veggie base:

I started with a spring mix and tossed in some collard greens. For some crunch, i shredded some carrots and cabbage and sliced up cucumber. Then I threw in some finely sliced purple onion.

The dressing:

The creamy dressing is avocado and herb based courtesy of Angela Liddon at Oh She Glows . The recipe can be found here. It’s one of favourite dressings of hers. I halved the recipe, added hemp seeds and used maple syrup for a touch of sweetness. It’s nutrient packed and full of flavour. I really liked using avocado in the base of the dressing instead of topping up my salad with it.

The toppings:

I used chick peas as croutons for some extra protein and because I am gluten free. I used the roasted chick pea recipe from Oh She Glows, it’s used on the Kale Caesar Salad recipe. If you are using this recipe as an entree, I would also suggest throwing in some left over meat from the bbq. I used chicken.

This salad is refreshing,filling and very satisfying. Even though it is both gluten and dairy free, I think it will be enjoyed by most!

Add all ingredients into a blender and fill the blender with enough water to cover the vegetables.

From there, blend on medium (in a Vitamix, we set the power to about 7) until the ingredients are “rice sized”. Pour the ingredients into a strainer to drain all of the water. Press down on the vegetables to squeeze the water out. Next, add all of the ingredients into a frying pain to saute. Cook on medium heat. Continually press on the ingredients for 10-15 minutes to gently cook the vegetables and ensure all of the water is evaporated. We usually cook until the cauliflower turns slightly transparent. Pour off any extra liquid.

Next, in a large mixing bowl, add any spices or herbs you would like to add for flavour. We often throw in some oregano and/or basil, salt & pepper. Mix 1 egg into the crust. Stir everything together.

Once everything is mixed, flatten the ingredients onto a pizza pan to form the crust. Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes (depending on the thickness of the crust).

Remove from the oven and decorate the pizza with your favourite toppings. While the pizza crust is cooking, we usually sauté zucchini, sun dried tomatoes and mushrooms and then top with bacon/sausage or chicken. We like to use pesto as the choice of pizza sauce but, anything is fair game! Finally, we grate a small amount of mozzarella cheese on top and place back in the oven for 5-10 minutes or until cheese melts.

When eating the pizza hot and fresh, it is still quite soft and therefore may fall apart. (But, it is also delicious to eat cold and actually holds together much better!)